“Shaped by Use: Individual Designs Reshaping the City*” was a spatial installation by Nuno Soares that was selected as a Collateral Exhibition of the 2015 Bi-City Biennale of Urbanism/Architecture (Shenzhen). It was hosted in Macau at Ponte 9 Creative Platform from 16 January to 13 February 2016 with the support of CURB Center for Architecture and Urbanism.

Macau is the most densely populated territory in the world, an extreme example of an urban landscape where individual appropriation is very intense and widespread. The shapes generated by use, in other words, the devices of appropriation of urban space – canopies, annexes, hawker booths, outdoor ads, rooftop houses and caged windows – are urban elements that, despite at their minimal scale, influence the use and shape of the city.

“Shaped by Use” explored the phenomenon of appropriation of urban space, its materialization, the impact on the city landscape, and its future potential as a field for architectural exploration. It was organized in two parts: Appropriation Devices and CityScape.